© IRIN
Former rebel integrated into the CAR's security services. Bangui, 18 October 2003
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Former rebel integrated into the CAR's security services. Bangui, 18 October 2003 |
REINTEGRATION
Once demobilised, former fighters must be eased back into the military or
civilian life. Some of Bozize's 1,000 men have been disarmed and are now being
trained in local and Chadian military camps. In August, 362 of them were
integrated into the army after two months of basic training.
But the slow pace of the process has angered some fighters, 100 of whom blocked
traffic in a north Bangui suburb for hours on 18 October. "We want the General [Bozize]
to honour his promise of sending us to training centres before our integration,"
one of the strikers, who requested anonymity, told IRIN.
During his rebellion, Bozize recruited heavily among children aged 15 to 16
years. The recruits received no military training and displayed a total lack of
discipline, which was illustrated by a spate of looting and human rights abuses
that they perpetrated just after the coup.
More successful has been the reintegration of at least 800 former CAR soldiers,
most of them members of Kolingba's Yakoma ethnic group. They had fled with him
in June 2001 after he failed to overthrow Patasse. Most of them had also taken
part in the 1996-97 mutinies.
But following the general amnesty granted to all participants in the May coup,
the government body in charge of overseeing the repatriation of refugees, the
Commission Nationale d'Accueil des Rapatries (CNAR) asked for them to be allowed
to return, along with other refugees. On 1 August, 275 former soldiers returned
from Camp Bokilio, in northwestern DRC, with the help of the UN Mission in the
DRC and the UN mission the CAR, BONUCA.
Many more had previously rejoined Bozize's rebellion or returned home
spontaneously after his victory over Patasse. A presidential decree setting up
the CNAR in May had indicated that the returning soldiers would be integrated
into the army after a case-by-case examination.
The integration of former mutineers was not as rapid. Nicolas Tiangaye, chairman
of the National Transitional Council, the nation's legislative body, called on 4
September for the integration of returnees in the army or public service to be
speeded up. He said they needed to regain "their social and professional
stability".
"I spent three months before integration into the public service," Anicet Sollet,
an army major who led the November 1997 mutiny, told IRIN. Bozize appointed him
in August as officer in charge of special duties at the Ministry of Territorial
Administration.
Sollet was among those sentenced to death in absentia for his role in the May
2001 coup. He said the integration of former mutineers was being delayed by
"administrative hardships" motivated by ethnic considerations.
Inter-ministerial teams have been set up to deal with the integration of former
mutineers and Bozize fighters into the army or public service. These actions are
aimed at averting frustration among these elements, thereby reducing the risk of
another rebellion.
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| Former soldiers return to Bangui from the Democratic
Republic of the Congo along the River Oubangui. 1 August 2003 |
A former Bozize fighter, Eric Mbelenga, 17, said he was integrated into the army
on 11 October, promoted to sergeant and awarded a monthly wage of 67,999 francs
CFA. Still, even among those reintegrated, such as Cpl Michel Koyessa, a former
mutineer who took part in Kolingba's coup, frustration remains. He said none of
the returnees had been appointed to senior army ranks and that former mutineers
were still very suspicious of the government's real intentions. Moreover, he
said, the government had failed to pay salaries, thereby placing returning
families in precarious situations.
The minister for communications in charge of the reconciliation process, Col
Parfait Mbaye, who is also the CNAR deputy chairman, told IRIN on 22 October
that 60 percent of the 800 former mutineers had been integrated either into the
army or the public service. He said only the cases of those who had returned
from Bokilio in August were still under review. But help was expected from the
UN Development Programme (UNDP).
UN SUPPORTS VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR DISARMED CIVILIANS
The UNDP, through the country's National Disarmament, Demobilisation and
Reinsertion Programme (Programme National de Desarmement, Demobilisation et de
Reinsertion, PNDR), started a vocational training programme in August for 220
youths who had voluntarily surrendered their weapons.
The head of the PNDR, Harouna Dan Malam, told IRIN that from 15 June 2002 to 15
March 2003, the body had recovered 209 small arms; three machine guns, 134,000
rounds of ammunition, 1,361 grenades, 27 mortar bombs, 54 rockets and one
antipersonnel mine - all of which were burnt on 25 July.
Harouna said the PNDR, whose authority is limited to dealing with civilians
holding illegal weapons, had set aside 35 million francs CFA ($58,300) for
training the 220 youths as carpenters, electricians, mechanics and tailors, and
in other trades. He said the PNDR had another $110,000 to buy tools for each
trainee when the four-month courses ended in December. Each trainee would
receive tools and equipment worth $500, enabling him to start a new business.
"We have formed a cooperative which will open a garage at the end of the
training", Wilmer Nzia, 34, a former Patasse rebel fighter, told IRIN. Like 52
others, Nzia has been training as an auto mechanic since August at Bangui's
Institut Moderne des Metiers Specialises.
The institute's chairman, Gyslain Zangas, told IRIN that the school was also
offering training for electricians, as well as training in electronics, civil
engineering and welding.
Former fighter Mahamat Asseyanga-Ndouba, a 40-year-old father of 10 who was
training as an electrician said: "With my training, I will open a workshop and
be able to feed my family."
Many other vocational training centres have received ex-fighters who will be
given certificates of competency at the end of their instruction in December. "They
will be able to earn money, especially if they form associations and open
workshops," Zangas said.
EXTENSION OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING UNDER CONSIDERATION
Consultations between the government and its partners, including the World Bank
and the EC, are under way with a view to integrating the PNDR into a
Multi-country Demobilisation and Reinsertion Programme (MDRP) encompassing seven
central African states: Angola, Burundi, the CAR, Republic of the Congo, the DRC,
Rwanda and Uganda.
[Ends]
(Source:
http://www.irinnews.org/S_report.asp?ReportID=38289 )
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